Robert Downey Jr. has left the UCM but that does not mean that his career has ended, much less when he said goodbye to one of his most beloved characters
When a role on its own revives a career that had been canceled more than once, making the person in question one of the most popular and highest-paid stars of the modern age, it will always leave a lasting shadow. Having spent 50 years in the business, Robert Downey Jr. is smart enough to know that he will always try to leave Tony Stark’s legacy behind.
Of course, it doesn’t help when he’s rumored to be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe almost daily, as the actor has been linked to dozens of projects that are either in development or that only exist on a purely hypothetical plane. However, he has made precisely one appearance in a feature film since Avengers: Endgame, at Dolittle it failed spectacularly at the box office.
It’s not like he’s been sitting at home playing with his thumbs though, with his Team Downey banner churning out the reboot of Perry Mason from HBO and the hit Netflix fantasy series Sweet tooth, while there are also plans for a whole universe of Sherlock Holmes, with a third installment in development.
In a new interview, Downey Jr. spoke with movieweb of what the next stage of his career will encompass, and it looks like there are big plans on both sides of the camera.
“I have great and fun things to come. And the way I’m going to do it is that I’m not going to just lie and sit in my trailer between setups anymore. I’ll be at Zooms and make connections and have dinners after work and call overseas when I drive at 6am. So this goes back to the answer to the question above, which is, ‘How do we make this new normal?’ We have the opportunity to create what is “.
While Robert Downey Jr. could easily dine on Iron Man for the rest of his days, he has freely admitted that he has done his best with the character, and that he has more than enough money and influence to do whatever he wants with a character, personal, professional and creative point of view from now on.